Synthetic Clonal Reproduction Through Seeds

Abstract

Clonal embryos or seeds produced by conversion of apomeiotic gametes into clonal embryos or seeds. Clonal embryos or seeds are produced by crossing a MiMe plant, as either a female or male, with an appropriate plant which induces genome elimination (genome eliminator, GE). MiMe plants are those in which meiosis is totally replaced by mitosis. In specific embodiments MiMe plants are MiMe-1 plants or MIME-2 plants. In specific embodiments MiMe plants are mutant plants. In a more specific embodiment, the genome eliminator is a haploid inducer exhibiting directed genome elimination of its own genome.

1 . A method for production of clonal embryos or seeds by conversion of apomeiotic gametes of a MiMe (mitosis instead of meiosis) plant into clonal embryos or seeds by crossing the MiMe plant with a plant that induces genome elimination and selecting embryos or seeds of plants resulting from the crossing which are clones of the MiMe plants. 
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the plant that induces genome elimination exhibits a rate of haploid induction of 1% or higher. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the crossing is performed by pollinating the MiMe plant with pollen of the plant that induces genome elimination. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the crossing is performed by pollinating the plant that induces genome elimination with pollen of the MiMe plant. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the plant that induces genome elimination is a plant expressing one or more altered centromeric-specific histone variant CENH3 proteins. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the plant that induces genome elimination is a plant expressing two or more altered CENH3 proteins 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the plant that induces genome elimination co-expresses a tagged-endogenous CENH3 protein and a tagged CENH3 protein in which the N-terminal region of the endogenous CENH3 protein is replaced with the N-terminal region of a centromere specific histone protein other than the endogenous CENH3. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the plant that induces genome elimination co-expresses tagged-tailswap or tagged-CENH3. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the plant that induces genome elimination co-expresses tagged-tailswap or tagged-CENH3 is a mutant plant. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the plant that induces genome elimination co-expresses tagged-tailswap or tagged-CENH3 is a transformed plant. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 7  wherein the tag is Green Florescent Protein (GFP). 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the plants are  Arabidopsis  or  Oryza.    
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the plants are  Arabidopsis thaliana  or  Oryza sativa.    
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the plants are rice, soybean, corn or maize, rye, cotton, oats, barley, wheat, alfalfa, sorghum, sunflower, various legumes, various Brassica, potato, peanuts, clover, sweet potato, cassava (manioc), rye-grass, banana, melon, watermelon, sugar beets, sugar cane, lettuce, carrots, spinach, endive, leeks, celery, artichokes, beets, radishes, turnips or tomato or ornamental plants such as roses, lilies, tulips or narcissus. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the plants are maize. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15  wherein the plant that induces genome elimination is selected from one of the maize lines PK6, RWS, RWK-76, FIGH 1 or derivatives thereof which retain the haploid inducer phenotype. 
     
     
         17 . A method of plant breeding employing clonal seeds obtained by the methods of  claim 1 . 
     
     
         18 . A method for cultivating a clonal plant that comprises the steps of:
 generating clonal seed by the method of  claim 1 , cultivating a clonal plant from the clonal seed and recovering viable gametes from the cultivated plant.   
     
     
         19 . Clonal progeny and plant cells and tissue thereof produced by crossing a MiMe plant with a genome eliminator plant. 
     
     
         20 . The clonal progeny of  claim 19  wherein the plant that is a genome eliminator plant is a plant expressing one or more altered centromeric-specific histone variant CENH3 proteins.